Staff Profile

Biography

Dr Kelly Kar Yue CHAN completed her undergraduate degree (First class honours) and her master’s degree (Distinction) both in the discipline of Translation and Interpretation at the City University of Hong Kong. She then finished her PhD in Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. She has been teaching translation (in various fields mainly in literary translation) and subjects concerning Chinese and Western cultural studies. Currently an Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) cum Associate Professor in language and translation of the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, she teaches courses on culture and translation, and literary translation; and supervises translation and research projects for undergraduate and postgraduate students. She is also the Programme Leader of Master of Arts in Bilingual Professional Translation (MABPTF), Coordinator of Postgraduate Programmes in A&SS, person-in-charge of the IDS (Institutional Development Scheme) project "Chinese Culture in the Global Context" (2017-2019), and Principal Investigator for the RGC Matching Grant "Innovating and Inheriting Cantonese Opera Singing Styles and Schools: 1930s - 1970s" (2021-2023). She is also the Centre Director of Ina Ho Cantonese Opera Research Centre (IHCORC). Her research interests include literary translation, classical Chinese literature (poetry), and translation of Cantonese Opera.

Teaching Areas & Research Interests

• Literary Translation
• Poetry in the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties and Their Translations
• Poetry by Women in Premodern China
• Translation of Cantonese Opera

Academic & Professional Experience

Selected Research Grants:

• Research Matching Grant (funded by Research Grants Council): A Study of Libretti Excerpts Translation of Cantonese Opera: Prospective Knowledge Transfer (PI, 2024-2026)
• Research Matching Grant (funded by Research Grants Council): Innovating and Inheriting Cantonese Opera Singing Styles and Schools: 1930s – 1970s (PI, 2021-2023)
• Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Grant (funded by Research Grants Council): – “Chinese Culture in the Global Context” (2017-2019)
• Project Grant (funded by Hong Kong Arts Development Council): “Culture in Translation: Reception of Chinese Literature in the World” organized by the School of Arts and Social Sciences, the Open University of Hong Kong. [Project Head: Prof Kwok-kan Tam; project in-charge: Dr Kelly Kar-yue Chan.] (2010-2012)

Selected Translations:

• 《世界華文旅遊文學聯會手冊》。陳家愉譯。香港：明報月刊，2015。
• 潘耀明、崔頌明編《圖說薛覺先藝術人生》(Sit Kok-sin’s Artistic Life: Pictorial Collection)。陳家愉譯。廣州 / 香港：廣州八和會館 / 大山文化出版社，2013。(265 頁)
• Chan, K. Y., trans. “Beyond the Waters: Impressions on the Oil Painting Series ‘Zhou Zhuang’ by Wen Shihong.” In Oil Painting Collection of Wen Shihong. Wong Jianfu ed. Hong Kong: Wong’s Art Ltd, 2004.
• Chan, K. Y., trans. “Bian Zhilin: ‘Translation and Its Positive/Negative Impact on Modern Chinese Poetry’ (1987).” In Leo Tak-hung Chan ed. Twentieth-Century Chinese Translation Theory: Modes, Issues and Debates. Amsterdam Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2004, pp.211-213.

Selected Honours and Awards:

• President’s Awards for Teaching Excellence (2017)
• Excellent Paper Award: Chan, K. Y., “Sound of Music: Aesthetics of Chinese Poetics in English Translation.” First International Conference on Linguistics and Language Studies 2015, Hong Kong.
   

Selected Publications

Books

• 陳子晉、陳家愉編著《實踐與未來：粵劇的創新、傳承與發展》。香港：匯智出版，2026年。
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, ed. Cantonese Opera Singing Styles in Hong Kong: A Study on Innovation and Inheritance (1930s–1970s). Singapore: Springer Nature, 2026. Open access.
• Ward, Julian Patrick, Kelly Kar-yue Chan, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. The Myriad Faces of Heroes and Heroines: Folkloric Tradition and Modern Contemporaries. Singapore: Springer, 2025, print.
• Lau, Chi-sum Garfield, and Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, eds. The Poetics of Grief and Melancholy in East-West Conflicts and Reconciliations. Singapore: Springer, 2024, print.
• 陳家愉、陳禧瑜、何晉熙編著《1930-1970 年代香港粵劇唱腔流派革新與傳承研究》。香港：匯智出版，2023年。
• Lau, Chi-sum Garfield, and Kelly Kar-yue Chan, eds. Conjugal Relationships in Chinese Culture: Sino-Western Discourses and Aesthetics on Marriage. Singapore: Springer, 2023, print.
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. Cross-Cultural Encounters in Modern and Premodern China: Global Networks, Mediation, and Intertextuality. Singapore: Springer, 2022, print.
• Şerban, Adriana, and Kelly Kar-yue Chan, eds., Opera in Translation: Unity and Diversity. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2020, print.
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. Chinese Culture in the 21st Century and Its Global Dimensions – Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Singapore: Springer, 2020, print.
• Chan, Kar Yue. Ambivalence in Poetry: Zhu Shuzhen, a Classical Chinese Poetess. Saarbrücken: Scholars' Press, 2013, print. 276 pp.
• Tam, Kwok-kan, and Kelly Kar-yue Chan, eds. Culture in Translation: Reception of Chinese Literature in Comparative Perspective. Hong Kong: OUHK Press, 2012, print.

Book Chapters

• 陳家愉：〈人機之戰：對粵劇英譯的觀點與期許〉。陳子晉、陳家愉編。《實踐與未來——粵劇的創新、傳承與發展》，香港：匯智出版社，2026 年，頁35 - 49。
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue. “Forbidden Love unto Death and Metamorphosis: Tragic Heroines from an Interplay between Celtic and Chinese Myths, and the Representation of Opera.” In Ward, Julian Patrick, Kelly Kar-yue Chan, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. The Myriad Faces of Heroes and Heroines: Folkloric Tradition and Modern Contemporaries. Singapore: Springer, 2025, pp.33-51.
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue. “Epitomizing the Poignancy in Poetry and Cantonese Opera: 'The Heartbroken Poetry' of Zhu Shuzhen.” In Lau, Chi-sum Garfield, and Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, eds. The Poetics of Grief and Melancholy in East-West Conflicts and Reconciliations. Singapore: Springer, 2024, pp. 9-22.
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue. “The Prince is Going Astray in His Dream: Assonance or Dissonance in Adapting Shakespearean Plays to Cantonese Opera.” In Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. Cross-Cultural Encounters in Modern and Premodern China: Global Networks, Mediation, and Intertextuality. Singapore: Springer, 2022, pp. 59-82.
• Chan, Kelly Kar-yue. “Reinterpreting Cantonese Opera: Is Sur/Subtitle Translation into English Possible?” In Chan, Kelly Kar-yue, and Chi-sum Garfield Lau, eds. Chinese Culture in the 21st Century and Its Global Dimensions – Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Singapore: Springer, 2020, pp. 143-159.
• 陳家愉：〈漢譯英文學翻譯：大學翻譯教學研究〉。明報月刊、香港公開大學編《文學批評與人生 ── 第四屆兩岸四地華文文學講座論文集》，香港：明報月刊出版社，2019, 頁 124-129。
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., “The Cultural Transformation of Classical Chinese Poetry in Translation into English.” In Malmkjær, Kirsten, Adriana Şerban, and Fransiska Louwagie, eds., Key Cultural Texts in Translation. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018, pp.171-184, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y., “Between Borders: Students' Bilateral Reception of Learning Literary Translation in Hong Kong.” Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Globalization: Challenges for Translators and Interpreters (II), pp.54-59. Salt Lake City: American Academic Press, 2017.
• Chan, K. Y., “Cross-disciplinary Application of Literary Translation from Chinese into English: Coloured Gender and Literature.” In Translation Studies and Translation Practice: Proceedings of the 2nd International TRANSLATA Conference. Eds. Zybatow, Lew N., Andy Stauder, and Michael Ustaszewski. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2017, pp.131-137, print.
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., “Figuratively Allusive: The Aesthetic Meaning of Literary Translation from Chinese into English.” In Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara, and Łukasz Bogucki eds., Translation and Meaning (New Series, Vol. 2, Pt. 1). Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2016, pp.209-219, print.
• Chan, K. Y., “Masculine Fantasies and Feminine Representations in the English Translations of Pre-modern Chinese Poetry in Journals.” In Sun, Yifeng, ed., Translation and Academic Journals: The Evolving Landscape of Scholarly Publishing. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, pp.165-178, print.
• Chan, K. Y., “Sound of Music: Aesthetics of Chinese Poetics in English Translation.” First International Conference on Linguistics and Language Studies 2015, Hong Kong. Eds. Kam Cheong Li et.al. Hong Kong: Chartered Institute of Linguistics Society, 2015, pp.125-132.
• 陳家愉.〈在大學教授中國古詩詞翻譯的理想與現實 --- 以香港為例〉，《第17屆口筆譯教學國際研討會論文集 – 翻譯的現實與衝突》，2013, 頁 81-94。
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., “Between Borrowing and Retention: The Translation of Zhu Shuzhen's Poems.” In Tam, Kwok-kan, and Kelly Kar-yue Chan, eds., Culture in Translation: Reception of Chinese Literature in Comparative Perspective. Hong Kong: OUHK Press, 2012, pp.138-150, print.
• Chan, K. Y., “Teaching Poetry Translation to Undergraduate Students in Hong Kong.” In Witte, Arnd, Theo Harden and Alessandra Ramos de Oliveira Harden eds., Translation in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2009, pp.247-260, print.
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., “Chinese Translation Traditions of Poetry in Western Contexts.” International Colloquium of Translation: Translation in All Its Aspects with Focus on International Dialogue. Istanbul: Dinç Ofset Matbaacilik San Ltd., 2009, pp. 150-153, print.

Journal Articles

• Chan, Kelly K. Y. “Exploring the Feasibility of Post-editing AI English Translations of Cantonese Opera Scripts.” Forum for Linguistic Studies. Vol. 7, Issue 11 (November 2025). https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11544
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., "Rhetoricising and poeticising gender performativity in English translations of Cantonese opera." Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, vol. 12, 528 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04839-3.
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., Book Review: Misiou, Vasiliki and Kostopoulou, Loukia (eds) (2024). New Paths in Theatre Translation and Surtitling. In The Journal of Specialised Translation (JoSTrans) Issue 43 (January 2025), pp.188-193.
• Chan, K. Y., "Representations of Happiness and Heartlessness in Cantonese Opera: With Reference to Burning of the Incense and Scent of a Lady." In Journal of Philology and Intercultural Communication, vol. 6:1 (Feb 2022), pp. 28-36, print/web.
• Chan, Kelly K. Y., “Love in Dreams and Illusions: Fate and Prognostication in Hongloumeng.” In Comparative Literature: East & West, vol. 4:1 (2020), Routledge, pp. 28-44, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y. “Reframing and Reception of Cantonese Opera in English Translation – With Special Reference to The Flower Princess.” In The Journal of Interpretation and Translation Education, vol. 17: 2 (2019), pp. 201-225, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y., “Cross-dressing and Gendered Voice Representation in Cantonese Opera.” In Comparative Literature: East & West, vol. 3:1 (May 2019), Routledge, pp. 1-14, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y. “Sexuality and Gender Variations in Traditional Chinese Folk Literature.” In The Journal of Interpretation and Translation Education, vol. 16: 2 (2018), pp. 209-228, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y., “Chinese Femininity vs Otherness: The Self Gendered Voice in the Translation of Female Poetry.” In The Journal of Interpretation and Translation Education, vol. 15: 2 (2017), pp.237-256, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y., “The Subtitled Translation into English of the Poetry in Chinese Opera-films.” In Comparative Literature: East & West. Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, vol. 25:2 (Autumn/Winter 2016), pp. 34-50, print/web.
• Chan, K. Y., “Explicitness and Implicitness: Translating Zhu Shuzhen: a Pre-modern Chinese Poetess.” In Textus: English Studies in Italy, vol. XXVI (2013), no. 3 (September - December), pp. 131-144, print.
• Chan, K. Y., “Rhyming for Image Revival – a Controversial Issue: Revisiting Classical Chinese Poetry Translation.” In Translation Quarterly, TQ65: September 2012, pp.1-17, print/web.

Selected Professional & Community Services

• Academic Advisory Board - Hong Kong Shue Yan University (2024-2026)
• Assessment Panel Member for Subvented Performance Projects (Cantonese Opera Development Fund) (2022 - present)
• External module examiner - THEi (2019 - 2023)
• Reviewer of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Studies (2016), Comparative Literature: East & West (2019), Routledge (2021; 2023) and META (2022)
• Panel Member and Subject Specialist for HKCAAVQ (2014 - present)
• Committee member of the Research Institute for Digital Culture and Humanities (RIDCH)
• External examiner – MPhil / PhD Thesis (Lingnan University, Hong Kong), 2015, 2017, 2018
• Reviewer and programme committee member of the International Conferences on Linguistics and Language Studies (ICLLS), 2015; 2016; 2017
• Chinese to English Translation Workshop for Official Languages Officers, Official Languages Division, Civil Service Bureau, Hong Kong SAR Government, 2011, 2012, 2017
• External examiner – English Language and Putonghua Subjects (Caritas Institution of Higher Education) (2011 - 2018; 2021 - present)

Further Information

Link to Google Scholar page

Modified Date: 24 Feb, 2026
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